The java-1.6.0-bea packages are vulnerable to important security flaws andshould no longer be used.

A flaw was found in the Java Management Extensions (JMX) management agent.When local monitoring was enabled, remote attackers could use this flaw toperform illegal operations. (CVE-2008-3103)

Several flaws involving the handling of unsigned applets were found. Aremote attacker could misuse an unsigned applet in order to connect toservices on the host running the applet. (CVE-2008-3104)

Several flaws in the Java API for XML Web Services (JAX-WS) client and theJAX-WS service implementation were found. A remote attacker who could causemalicious XML to be processed by an application could access URLs, or causea denial of service. (CVE-2008-3105, CVE-2008-3106)

Several flaws within the Java Runtime Environment's (JRE) scripting supportwere found. A remote attacker could grant an untrusted applet extendedprivileges, such as reading and writing local files, executing localprograms, or querying the sensitive data of other applets. (CVE-2008-3109,CVE-2008-3110)

The vulnerabilities concerning applets listed above can only be triggeredin java-1.6.0-bea, by calling the "appletviewer" application.

BEA was acquired by Oracle® during 2008 (the acquisition was completed onApril 29, 2008). Consequently, JRockit is now an Oracle offering and theseissues are addressed in the current release of Oracle JRockit. Due to alicense change by Oracle, however, Red Hat is unable to ship OracleJRockit.

Alternatives to Oracle JRockit include the Java 2 Technology Edition of theIBM® Developer Kit for Linux and the Sun™ Java SE Development Kit (JDK),both of which are available on the Extras or Supplementary channels. ForJava 6 users, the new OpenJDK open source JDK will be included in Red HatEnterprise Linux 5.3 and will be supported by Red Hat.

This update removes the java-1.6.0-bea packages due to their known securityvulnerabilities.

Solution

Before applying this update, make sure that all previously-released
errata relevant to your system have been applied.